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XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty Review

Installation:

Installation of the XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty is very simple and exactly like installing any other PCI Express card. It warrants mention that you should make sure that you have a PCI Express motherboard with a PCI Express x16 slot. If you don't, then this card isn't for you. Otherwise, all that is required is to uninstall your current video card in Windows (if you use Windows), turn off your computer, pull your old card out, and pop the new one in. Another benefit to using the 8600, as opposed to the 8800, is that it only requires one slot be free for cooling. This means that you can still retain functionality in all other expansion slots on your motherboard. When you start your computer up for the first time with the new card, you will probably notice that your graphics are hindered. You will need to install drivers, either those included on the included disc, or drivers downloaded from nvidia.com. Downloading the drivers will give you better results with your games, as those drivers are more up to date, so it is recommended.

Configuration:

Configuring the XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty is no different than configuring other recent XFX video cards, so I will use the same screens as I did with the last reviews. Included with the video card is a driver disk, which contains not only the nVidia drivers for the video card, but other interesting software as well. After it is placed in your CD-ROM drive, the XFX driver disk will auto run, and once accessed, you will find all the available options.

The first option on the disk is registration. By registering the video card, you will be able to take advantage of XFX’s “Double Lifetime Warranty”, covering not only you for the lifetime of the video card, but also if you happen to sell it at any point, the person who buys it from you will also be covered (Details).

The next step is to install the video drivers. The drivers included are Windows Drivers, Directx 9c and TV Capture.

Once the video drivers are installed, you will have the option to install the included bundled software, trial games and Personal Cinema. If you are thinking about overclocking your XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty, an overclocking tool is included in the bundled software.

There are three trial games that are offered.

The Personal Cinema drivers allow you to turn your PC into a media center.